Evaporation

Hey, quick and dumb question ( one more )

How long does it takes for the water on the glass to “disappear”? It’s not too hot here in TX right now and I’ve been practicing on my own windows and the results are great so far even with my poor technique, but one thing that I’ve noticed is that there’s some water, not a lot, on the glass and takes quite some time to evaporate. I don’t feel like waiting for it to “go away” or leaving my customer’s windows covered in water. Hope you get the idea of what I’m talking about.

Thanks
Carlos

I don’t understand. Are you talkling about Water Fed Pole work?

Yeah, I’ve assumed that since it was in the Pure Water forum I had no need to explain, but I was wrong.
Sorry

:o Oops ! sorry, I didnt look at which forum it was in. :o

The colder it is the longer it takes to dry, don’t worry about walking away leaving them wet, its something you and your customer will get used to,

Just let them know from the off-set that the windows will be left wet and the fact its pure water so will dry nice and clean.

I gave all my customers an explanation letter explaining all about the new system, If you want it I’ll post it here.

If you don’t mind doing so it will be great, never refused information before, why now ? Thanks.

The only thing you really have to worry about leaving them wet, is if maybe there’s construction going on real close, and it’s a windy day. Dust could blow on your wet window’s and cause them to dry dirty. If not, wash em, rinse em, get paid, and head on to the house!!

windowman

Is there a way to dry that out ? Just asking

But going back to my original question and setting all the variables aside (temp, wind) … how long does it takes to evaporate ?? 30 mins … an hour … ???

If it’s a decent size job, the windows you cleaned first will be dry way before you are done (if it’s hot outside), if not most of the windows. If it’s cold outside, It will be a while. The last windows you clean will always be wet when you are pulling away.

But this is a question that is irrelevent. The important thing is that you know, for sure, that your water is pure and your cleaning technique is thorough.

If you have customers that want all their windows dry before you leave, then clean the old fashioned way (assuming you’ve explained, like a professional, that the water is harmless). Remember- you are the expert (or will be), and you’re customers should trust your judgement. Otherwise you are not coming off as you should.

If worse comes to worse, you can sit in your truck until the windows dry and then charge them for the extra time.

Very true regarding windy locations, your windows could end up with more dirt on than before you started, I don’t know the ball game in the states but I give my customers a 24hr Guarantee and in 2 years its never been used by my customers.

I suggest anyone that’s thinking of changing from trad to wfp, take the time while your still trad to clean all the frames, especially the top of any window frames, this is were most of the dirt collects and you’ll find that once you change over to wfp, the time spent on first cleans will be reduced dramatically, also use a professional detergent and not a dishwashing one.

This is the explanation letter you could alter to your needs and to best suit your own business needs, I explained to all my customers of the pending chang over to wfp, on there very first clean I gave the letter to every customer and told them to read it while I cleaned the windows.

The reason I gave the letter to each customer was to keep them out of my way while I got on with the clean, as always with a new technology they want to stop,watch and ask questions, I didn’t mind them watching but all those questions Lol did my head in and the time you waste is money lost.

Your company name

The Water fed pole system

your windows have been cleaned today using a method, which will soon be the industry standard. As a company wanting to be at the forefront of our industry, we have decided to invest in this technology which involves the use of telescopic poles and 100% pure water, which we filter through de-ionization vessels.

We are embracing this technology for a number of reasons

1). Better cleaning results. The major advantage of pure water is its desire to return to its impure state; hence its capacity to absorb large amounts of dirt from your windows .A word of warning this process involves brushing your windows clean with pure water. As such they will be left wet and will need time to dry naturally. This may be a bit disconcerting at first, as obviously this is not what our customers are used to.

2). Health and safety. Legislation brought in from Europe will limit the use of ladders as temporary workstations. The law now states that ladders can only be used when all viable alternatives have been considered, and now waterfed pole systems are seen as a safer viable alternative and I don’t want to be held liable to prosecution for accidents to staff and customers. Accidents do happen (as I have fell off the ladder a couple of times myself) If we can do the job to a high standard whilst standing on the ground so much the better. Also we have been forced to pay an increasingly higher public and employers liability insurance premium, which is becoming unaffordable for the use of ladders, especially for staff. And ladders are no longer an option for my business

3). Environmentally friendly. Pure water only is used, eliminating the need for detergents and chemicals.

4). Reduced disturbance. No more dents in your lawn obviously we tried to minimize this aspect but sometimes the old fashioned method made it very difficult

5). Windows will stay cleaner .The absence of sticky soap residue means that dirt will find it harder to cling to your windows; hence your Windows stay cleaner for longer.

Additional Benefits.

6). as your windows will be brushed clean almost unavoidably your frames will be cleaned at the same time

7). We can now reach with ease previously inaccessible aspects of your property. Third floor windows, conservatory roofs, most windows above conservatory that had to be previously left.

Please note that over the space of two or three visits the process will leach all deposits from around the frames, resulting in an improved finish each time, until ultimately the finish will effectively be sterile. Please be patient if the initial visit is not perfect, as we have been forewarned by our suppliers that two or three visits can be necessary for maximum effect.

I hope this has covered everything, that’s it, lots of increased benefits .Our aim continues to give a high level service. Please feel free to phone or discuss any part of the above or indeed any other aspect of our service. If you have any concerns about this new way of cleaning your windows please let me know and I will Endeavour to alleviate your concerns.

Home Tel No ……Mobile:-No

Yours thankfully

Information

You may see us around with Ladders on our vehicle; the reason for this is strictly for access purposes only, i.e. Locked gates, and access to windows above flat roofs only.

[B]You may wish to check the spelling as some words may be spelt differently.[/B]

Thanks Jeff, very informative stuff !

Always happy to help you guy’s;)

On my one and only wfp job, just got started with wfp, - 440 wnidows, 1800 panes of glass - I got a little impatient with the dry time. It was cool and damp when I was working. So, for the fun of it I got a clean huck towel and ‘dried’ a couple windows just to see what would happen. I was amazed at how the wiped down window looked. Rags would have to be clean of all soap residue, dirt, oil etc. to preserve the intent. Way inefficient on all but a small job, but if customers gets impatient, maybe this could actually be an ad on that you charge for? Thoughts?

Eric

You should never wipe a whole window with a rag, clean or not. A rag can always leave behind something. Rags are generally for edging.

Also-Why are you so worried about having dry windows? I can hardly imagine a customer caring. They never do. And I cannot imagine a customer paying more for dry windows. You’d be charging them more money for something that will occur naturally.

I have only just started WFP trolly cleaning and I see the need to see a dry window already. When I cleaned my house windows (to test it) they took forever to dry and when dried there was white spots left all over the window. Someone on this forum explained that i needed to wait until all the window was dry then rinse again (only the glass) this was great, solved the problem.

But I needed to wait until the glass was dry before re-doing. So two things:

(1) On a first clean I would have to wait hours in the british winter air or even summer for that matter, for the windows to be dry before a second rinse.

(2) How would I know in the future if my clean was successfull with-out waiting for the windows to dry to see them.

Thanks

I did a WFP job last week and it was pouring rain, I told the customer that I could do the job and come back the next day if the windows wouldn’t dry clean. Some of the windows were under a covered patio and I guess the humidity in the air wouldn’t let the windows dry while I was there. That afternoon the customer called back and was completely suprised how well the windows looked.
I have also done my windows a couple of times and it does take a while to dry but after a while they look amazing- or should I say SPOTLESS.

With more practice, each job will dry cleaner and cleaner. The first couple of jobs will be practice runs. For these ones you should wait to see a dry window or two before you leave. As long as you have cleaned and rinsed thoroughly on each window, you won’t have to check each window.

In the future just tell your customers when you are leaving that although their windows are wet, they will dry spot-free. Then tell them that if for any reason there are problems, they can call you. Say all this after you recieve the check.